Aes Sedai, the Dragon Reborn, and the Mythology of The Wheel of Time, Explained
Amazon Prime’s adaptation of The Wheel of Time book series is a deeply immersive fantasy series. It drops the viewers in, and while there are a lot of moments that provide exposition, the series throws terms at the audience and asks you to just go with it. With the whole first season now streaming, here are some useful explainers for viewers looking to understand the world of The Wheel.
Aes Sedai:
Our entry point into the world of the Aes Sedai is Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), dressed in blue, and throughout the first season, we are introduced to the concept of women wearing robes of different colors: red, green, etc.
The Aes Sedai are one of the longest-standing institutions in the world of The Wheel of Time. In Tar Valon, the White Tower has remained the center of its power for centuries. Broken into seven different colored divisions, or Ajahs—Blue, Red, White, Green, Brown, Yellow, and Grey—each of these ranks have their own factions, allegiances, and rivalries with each other.
- Blue: one of the small groups of Ajahs. According to The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, which I got for myself this Christmas, the main role of the Blue is to promote justice and support worthy causes through political maneuvering. On the show, they are also depicted as spies and the ones responsible for gathering political knowledge to protect the Amyrlin Seat and the White Tower.
- Red: protectors of the True Source and responsible for making sure men do not have access to it. They are the largest group of Ajah and, due to their duty, are the only Ajah to not have a Warder. (More on Warders below.)
- White: the philosophy majors who seak out the truth.
- Green: also known as the Battle Ajah. Guess what they do. But yes, they are the military, and their main goal is preparing themselves for the Last Battle with the Dark One. They also tend to bond themselves to multiple Warders for both sexy and battle couple reasons.
- Brown: the librarians, historians, and archivists of the world rolled into one.
- Yellow: the white mages, a.k.a. healers. Additionally, according to my research, they are also invested in finding new cures for sickness.
- Grey: mediators and diplomatic leaders throughout the many kingdoms.
The Amyrlin Seat (in this show depicted by Sophie Okonedo) is the head of all the Ajahs and the equivalent of a king/queen in her own right. They are meant to favor no Ajah, despite being formerly of one color, and are meant to keep the balance of all the factions within the Tower.
Finally, the Warders. This relationship, as depicted in the show, is probably one of the most beautiful platonic relationships I’ve ever seen. Once we are allowed to see the result of what it means for a Warder to outlive their Aes Sedai, it becomes one of the most interesting dynamics in the series.
After a woman becomes a full Aes Sedai, she may bond with a Warder using the One Power. It is supposed to be done voluntarily, and once it is done, it gives the Warder abilities like quick healing, the ability to sense the Dark One’s power, and an ability to understand the emotions and physical pain of their ward.
Fellow Mary Sue writer Kalia Hale-Stern asked if there was some beef between Wisdoms and the Aes Sedai that went beyond Nynaeve’s distrust of Moiraine. I didn’t see anything that indicated that in my research thus far, though I’ve only just started the books. Wisdoms are just wise women who have their own healing abilities and, in some cases, function as mayors.
The One Power/True Source:
The book series has a lot of gender-related politics when it comes to its power system, but the basics of it are that the One Power is considered a force of nature that is only limited based on the physical limitations of the person channeling it (à la the Force). That means any mishandling of it can do great damage to someone’s mind and body. Channeling draws on the power and allows it to be directed into a number of different abilities.
The One Power comes from the True Source, which is broken into the male half (saidin) and the female half (saidar). These are so completely different that they cannot be taught or even sensed or touched by someone of the opposite gender. (There is a lot of trans/non-binary fanfiction/meta potential from this concept. If you know of any, please share!)
Despite these differences, men and women used to share the same risks in accessing the One Power … until the taint.
The Taint & the Dark One:
History time! So, back during the Age of Legends, men could use their power, and it was great. The Dark One was lurking, but no one really knew what he was up to.
The Dark One was an entity bound outside of time at the moment of creation because, I guess, the Creator of this world wanted their people to thrive. Slowly, the Dark One started to escape from his prison, slowly infecting vulnerable masses with its darkness. It decided to go after the miserable, the lonely, the depressed—promising ways to change their lives for the better with its power.
Like an evil MLM.
Now called The Friends of the Dark, these forces began to use the One Power for darkness. A new ability was born that created a liquid hot fire that, it was was eventually discovered, didn’t just kill someone—it removed people from the Pattern and removed entire cities and histories from reality. Dark-ass shit.
Enter Lews Therin Telamon, Lord of the Morning who would later be called The Dragon. He was a powerful warrior, whose abilities helped retake land lost by the dark. In the final years of the war, Telamon formed a dangerous plan. He would go to the Bore (the Dark One’s prison) and reseal it, cutting The Dark One off from the world. This plan was risky because, if not properly sealed, it would allow The Dark One to fully escape.
The female members of the Aes Sedai saw this plan as so dangerous that no woman took place in it, leaving the then-male Aes Sedai to do it. The details of all that happened are lost, but what we know is that the seal did work, but the aftermath was known as the Dark One’s counterstroke.
The Dark One tainted the saidin, making it so that any man who tried to channel would become mad.
Dubbed the “Breaking of the World,” the result from this tainting of male power led the male Aes Sedai into madness and, in that, they ended up destroying civilizations and turning the world backward in terms of development. It lasted for roughly three centuries, until the last male Aes Sedai died and society could start rebuilding, but from a more “primitive” stage of development.
The Dragon Reborn:
Due to reincarnation being an aspect of the series, The Dragon Reborn is the reincarnated soul of Lews Therin Telamon, the original Dragon. The Dragon Reborn will be able to tap into the same power as Lews Therin Telamon and, therefore, has the potential to break the world again or help enter into a new age of Light. No pressure.
The Wheel:
Created by the Creator, the Wheel is “a great cosmic loom in the shape of a seven-spoked wheel, slowly spinning through eternity, weaving the fabric of the universe.” It contains the whole existence of reality—past, present, and future—and the souls are reborn through its turning. While it cannot be destroyed, the Dark One, as a force beyond creation, would have the power to remake the Wheel if he were to escape and be allowed his full power.
So the entire series is about stopping that!
I hope that explains some of the big world-building questions of the series. Lemme know what you thought of the series down below, and if you want to go down a big nerd history rabbit hole (with spoilers), check out The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson.
(image: Amazon)
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